The Ministry of Industry and Commerce has highlighted Pump and Steel Supplies, a Bulawayo-based, wholly Zimbabwean-owned steel manufacturer, as an example of evidence-based growth and value chain beneficiation ahead of the upcoming Zimbabwe Industrialisation Conference and Expo (ZICE 2026), part of a continuing campaign by the Ministry to showcase local manufacturers strengthening the country’s industrial base through import substitution and downstream job creation.
According to the Ministry, Pump and Steel Supplies was established in 1991 and has grown into one of the country’s leading manufacturers of steel products, producing doorframes, barbed wire, diamond mesh fencing, mesh wire, door hinges, window frames, IBR roofing sheets, nails, scaffolding, bush pumps for boreholes, structural steel components for construction and fuel tanks, among a wide range of other steel items. The company, which the Ministry described as proudly Zimbabwean-made, was founded by Eugene and Agnes Jackson and has expanded significantly over the years, now operating from a large industrial facility in Bulawayo that was previously used as a railways workshop building.
The Ministry noted that Pump and Steel’s output underpins infrastructure development, rural industrialisation and the growth of downstream jobs within the iron and steel value chain. Citing production figures, the Ministry said the company manufactures up to 2 400 standard-size doorframes in a single eight-hour shift, alongside as many as 600 window frames per shift, with total daily output dependent on the number of shifts running on a given day. The company was also cited as producing around two tonnes of six-inch, four-inch and three-inch nails within a single eight-hour shift, underscoring the scale of its manufacturing capacity.
Employment figures shared by the Ministry indicate that Pump and Steel Supplies directly employs more than 350 people across its manufacturing and engineering divisions, a workforce size that has grown substantially since the company’s early years, when it operated on a considerably smaller scale before expanding into its current premises. The company supplies a broad customer base of retailers and hardware stores across Zimbabwe, positioning it as a significant supplier within the country’s construction and industrial materials sector.
The Ministry’s spotlight on Pump and Steel Supplies forms part of a broader push ahead of ZICE 2026 to draw attention to Zimbabwean-owned manufacturers contributing to value addition within local supply chains, a theme central to government’s industrialisation agenda of encouraging the country to look inwards and strengthen domestic production capacity rather than relying heavily on imported goods. Steel manufacturing has been identified as a key value chain within this strategy, given its links to construction, agriculture, mining and general infrastructure development across both urban and rural areas of the country.
Pump and Steel Supplies has previously been recognised for its investment in modernising its production lines, including the installation of computer-numerically-controlled fabrication equipment aimed at improving productivity and precision within its structural steel operations. As Zimbabwe’s industrial sector continues to navigate a challenging operating environment, companies such as Pump and Steel Supplies are being held up by the Ministry as evidence that locally owned manufacturing can scale meaningfully, sustain hundreds of jobs, and support broader economic activity through the products and materials it supplies into the domestic marke
